The Love Potion
by irislim
Summary: It wasn't supposed to happen this way. And he didn't even know that the effects would be this bad. But it is what it is, and maybe Ron's misplaced love potion is the only way to get his sister and his best friend to see what's right in front of them. A Hinny story with a side of Ronmione.
1. Chapter 1

In retrospect, there wasn't any reason for Ron to be as fidgety as he was.

Quidditch practice went normally. Everyone thrived, in fact. There was nothing to worry about for the newly-minted team. With everybody's skills combined, Gryffindor was miles ahead of every other House in talent. Her prefect of a brother (how he ever became a prefect, Ginny can't imagine) had no reason to be stuttering and lagging behind and acting like an overall scatterbrain.

Everything was normal - too normal, perhaps - all the way to how they brought up four mugs of hot chocolate from the kitchen after practice: one for each Weasley, one for Harry, and one for Hermione.

"I'll get it," Ron volunteered right away when it came to holding the mugs while they climbed through the portrait hole.

He always had been rather helpful. There were no alarm bells ringing - not a single one.

And so no one seemed surprised when Ron slid the mugs on the wooden table, fussed around with them, and handed them out by name.

"Harry," he said first, though Ginny knew it was just for appearance's sake. God knew whom Ron thought about first these days.

Harry, blissfully ignorant of any emotional ongoings as ever, took his mug readily.

"Hermione," Ron offered next, both his large stupid hands clasped around the steaming mug.

And Ginny, charged by the excitement of a hearty practice, and feeling like picking on his prat of a brother, reached out before Hermione could drop the pages of her miles-thick textbook, and grabbed the beverage from her brother.

"Why, thank you, Ron." Ginny grinned, proceeding to drink from the mug as if it had been meant for her all along.

"Ginny, no!" Ron _screeched_, almost causing Ginny to drop the mug altogether. Given that she'd only taken a sip, leaving the mug mostly full, she dutifully slipped it back on the table instead.

"What's wrong with you?" She glared at her brother. "It's just a cup of chocolate."

"Yeah, Ron," Harry piped in. Ginny turned to face their captain. "It really wasn't that big of a - "

And that's when the first pang of _excruciating _pain shot through Ginny's chest.

* * *

"Ginny, no!" He watched in horror as his sister swallowed the chocolate.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be - it was _never _how it was supposed to go.

Hermione, _Hermione_ was supposed to have the cup. He even made sure that he didn't serve her first so it wouldn't be all that obvious.

"What's wrong with you?" Ginny glared at him as she slipped her mug back on the table. "It's just a cup of chocolate."

Nothing was happening. Maybe the potion had malfunctioned. Maybe there was still a chance that her sister drinking what was clearly a concoction meant for Hermione wouldn't end in a giant fiasco.

"Yeah, Ron," Harry piped in then. Everyone turned to look at his best friend. "It really wasn't that big of a - "

Ginny's loud, agonizing groan shocked everyone in the room. Her arms and legs trembled, her body doubled over on the couch.

"Ginny!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione all cried at the same time. Ron, being the closest and, frankly, not balancing a book on his lap, reached her first.

"Ginny, are you alright? I should have - what have I - oh, Ginny!"

His sister rocked and twisted her entire body in obvious pain. Ron felt guilt overflowing from every inch of him.

"Oh, Ginny," he said again, patting her helplessly on the back. "It shouldn't have - I had no idea - "

"Ginny." It was Harry's turn to coax her, as he knelt on the floor in front of her. Ron watched with quiet and dangerous fascination as his friend touched his sister by the shoulders. "Is there anything we can do to - Ginny!"

Ginny had looked up, lunged forward, grasped Harry by the collar, and pulled him straight towards her face. It was awkward, really - Ginny sitting on her knees on the couch, her strong hands tugging an even larger Harry nearly straight over and into her.

It would almost be funny - if it hadn't been the result of one horrible mistake.

"Ginny?" Harry's voice sounded strained now.

"What on - what was in that chocolate, Ron?" Hermione wailed helplessly behind him.

Ron swallowed. He hadn't meant for this to happen. He hadn't known that this would happen.

"I have to - " Ginny was shaking, all while pulling Harry closer and closer towards her. Her eyes trembled. Her lips trembled. Everything about her looked like a giant wall about to crumble. "I have to - I can't - "

With a sharp cry, she shoved Harry backwards until he fell on the opposite end of the couch.

Then, she resumed her moaning and groaning as she curled up into a ball once more.

"What is with her?" Harry asked, clearly shaken. "I hope it isn't Voldemort again."

"It's not." Ron hung his head. He had to be a coward. He had to resort to a nearly illegal sort of magic.

"Ron?" Harry watched him with bewildered eyes.

Ron swallowed hollowly again. Maybe it was better that Hermione was behind him. It was easier to confess it this way.

"That drink was meant for Hermione."

Harry frowned. Ginny was still doubled up in some sort of agony that looked comparable to being under the Cruciatus Curse.

"It's a - a love potion, of sorts," Ron admitted forlornly. "It's supposed to affect you and the first member of the opposite sex you see, well, barring family."

Ron could feel the smack coming. Hermione probably already had her hand raised behind him.

But the sight in front of him was just as lamentable as Harry looked towards Ginny the exact moment Ginny turned upwards towards Harry. There was fear in his sister's eyes.

"Ginny - " Harry had just begun to reach for her when Ginny let loose a loud, anguished groan and ran for her room.

* * *

_A/N: This is a silly little AU I worked on right after visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter :) I hope you'll enjoy it! There are five chapters and should finish around Christmastime. I thought it might just add to everyone's Christmas cheer! :)_


	2. Chapter 2

"Have you seen Ginny?" Harry slipped onto the breakfast table. Both his friends looked up and, in perfect synchronicity, scooted farther away from each other. Harry frowned. "What?"

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I really didn't think - " Ron started mumbling before trailing off to poke at his food.

"Hermione?"

"Ginny screamed and groaned throughout the night." Hermione spoke towards her plate. "It was _really _painful to watch, Harry."

Harry _thought _he had heard screams. To be told that his worst worries were true - sent an unsettling feeling straight into his stomach.

"I'm sorry," Ron repeated. His face glowed as red as his hair. "I - I didn't think - "

"You _obviously _weren't thinking," snapped Hermione.

The two Gryffindors stared at each other - though Hermione's stare was more of the glaring variety - before looking away.

"Where is she?" Harry asked again. Two bites were all he could stomach for breakfast today - not when Ginny was suffering, probably alone somewhere.

"Luna came by to take her away before you got here," Hermione answered. If Hermione's eyes looked tired, Harry didn't dare think what Ginny probably looked like today. "Her first class is - "

"Ginny!" Harry rushed to his feet at the sight of Ginny's flowing red hair crossing the other side of the hall. "Ginny!"

He sped across the hall as fast as he could. He had thought about it all night. Ron or no Ron, she was in this predicament because of _him_. She drank that chocolate and looked at _him_.

And he wasn't about to let her continue suffering if he could do something about it.

"Ginny!" He ran the last few steps to catch up with the two girls. He was close, and this side of the hall was far away enough from everyone to at least ensure them some privacy. He wasn't sure what he would do - but he had to do _something._

Then, sometime during his last ten steps, Ginny stopped - and collapsed on the floor.

"Ginny!"

Harry practically fell on top of her.

"Ginny, what is - how are - " He checked her all over for injuries. The way she was moaning could _not _be normal. "Ginny, please, talk to me. Let me just - "

"Go away!" She screamed, pulling backwards so forcefully that she tumbled further on the floor.

"Ginny, I want to help! I can't - "

"You can't!" She struggled to her feet. There were tears on her face. They were tears Harry desperately wished he could charm away.

"Gin - "

"I don't need your pity." She sniffed, her limbs folded into awkward, twisted gestures that made Harry's heart twist along with them. "Harry, you mean well, but you - "

"I don't want to see you like this!" Harry practically shouted. He looked helplessly at his tormented friend. "I _need_ to help!"

"You can't."

"I'm sure I can! There must be _something - _"

"Then go ask my git of a brother what you can - because I don't need your charity, Harry." The fire in her eyes, framed by her beautiful red hair, left no room for discussion.

"She has a point, Harry," Luna added softly to the side.

He huffed impatiently. He wasn't used to being this helpless.

But then there's Ginny, practically crying for him to go away. And then there's Ginny, her eyes filled with something that looked like both anger and desire.

He didn't know which Ginny to believe.

"Fine. I'll come back," he conceded.

The sound of her distress haunted him for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Why would you even think - "

"It's not a love potion, Hermione!" Ron pleaded, _finally _having gotten Hermione to talk to him at last.

It took all day, but at least she was here now, giving him a sliver of a chance to explain before the common room got too crowded for the evening. He had to take it, no matter the odds.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," he lamented miserably.

"It wasn't supposed to be Ginny, I get it." Hermione rolled her eyes, her arms crossed. "But I fail to see why that makes it better."

"It's not a love potion."

"So you say."

"It - I didn't know it's supposed to work like this."

"You didn't know that messing with people's feelings can break friendships and ruin lives?"

"No! I mean - yes, that is - " Ron ruffled his own hair out of great and deep frustration. "It's not supposed to make anyone fall in love."

There was a silent beat, or two.

"Alright," Hermione said slowly.

"It's - it's a street product based on a _super _mild version of Veritaserum," Ron explained, fidgeting. "At least, that's what the package said."

"Veritaserum?"

"Yeah. It's - " Ron huffed helplessly before sneaking a peek at Hermione. "It's supposed to just reveal whatever your true feelings are towards the person."

"Hm."

"And - and I guess it's - it sort of forces you to be uncomfortable until things are - resolved." Ron shrugged.

"_Uncomfortable _is an understatement, Ron."

"I know! I know! I don't want to see my own sister that way too."

Hermione looked at him with the first hint of understanding since last night.

"So you just - wanted to know how I felt?" She said softly.

Ron was very glad there was no one else in the common room just now.

"Yeah, just that."

Hermione nodded, like she was trying to think something through.

Her next words were even softer than before. "I mean, you could have just asked me."

"What's that?"

She cleared her throat and fidgeted a little. Then she sat up straighter. "If you wanted to know how I felt, you could have - asked."

An opportunity Ron had never dared to imagine before was suddenly right in front of him. And it was taking up every last drop of his Gryffindor daring to take it.

"Even if the girl I fancy says no to my face?" He half-chuckled.

"She may." Hermione licked her lips. "Or she may not."

"Right." It was his turn to clear his throat. Girls were a different species, sometimes. "Hermione."

"Yes?"

"What _do _you feel about me?"

She paused a little. Then her lips curled slowly into a smile. "A little more than as a friend."

He couldn't help smiling himself now. "Just a little?"

"More than a little."

"That's it?"

"Are you seriously still not happy with that!"

"Alright, alright. I am!" He carefully moved to the seat beside her. The smile on his face had grown into a fully-fledged grin. "I happen to think of you as quite a lot more than as a friend."

"I see."

"Right."

"Alright then."

"Alright."

He waited in place as she slowly slid her head on his shoulder.

"I feel like a git."

"And why is that, Ron?"

"I really could have just asked, couldn't I?"

Hermione grinned into the side of his face. "Yes, you could."

* * *

It had been a particularly long day for Harry, wondering and worrying at every hour at just how much Ginny must be suffering. He hadn't had the chance to catch sight of her again since after breakfast, but just the thought of her groaning and moaning somewhere in the castle thanks to him made his throat choke up rather harshly every time he remembered.

And it didn't help that he constantly remembered.

"What - " He stopped short upon landing in the common room.

"Harry," Hermione said first, raising her head from Ron's shoulder and sliding herself down from where she been sitting, apparently, on Ron's lap.

Harry frowned. "And how long has this been going on?"

"It's - rather new." Ron flushed, his arm around his fellow Gryffindor prefect. "I - I hope you don't mind, Harry."

"I - " No, Harry didn't mind - not about Ron and Hermione getting together. They had been _so _obvious for so long, really. But he did mind this one other thing. "Then why did you bother with the potion!"

"I - "

"If this could all happen without all the - _interference_ \- then why did - why did Ginny have to - " Harry collapsed on the nearest chair. His friends inched over towards him in a rather careful way.

He leveled his glare at Ron when they're close enough. "Seriously, Ron."

"I know." Ron hung his head.

Harry ran his hands over his face. He huffed a long, hard sigh and then looked up at both his friends.

"What can I do?"

Hermione nudged Ron by the shoulder. It was clear that they knew something.

"How do I fix it?" Harry groaned. "There _is _a countercharm, isn't there?"

Ron fidgeted, testing Harry's patience every single second he did.

"You see, Harry, the potion isn't actually a - "

"What he means is - " Hermione interrupted. Harry couldn't understand why. Hermione cleared her throat. "He knows the only solution."

Ron looked at Hermione, then at Harry, with a very guilty face.

"Well?" Harry prodded.

Ron chewed on his lips for a bit longer. "To undo the effects of the potion - "

"Yes?"

"The object of the afflicted person's desire must express his or her real feelings to the affected person for the affliction to end." It was clear Ron was reciting something he had read a dozen times over. "So, for example, if someone I disliked caught the potion and was pining for me, I would just have to tell the person that I truly don't feel anything for her. And once the truth comes out, the spell should be lifted."

"Well, that's simple enough," Hermione declared with a much happier voice. "You just have to tell Ginny what you think about her. That's easy enough, isn't it, Harry?"

Harry wanted to die.

He wanted to disappear under the cushions of the chair and never appear except to spy at his friends at night.

Because if there had ever been a secret he'd kept for years without ever telling a soul, it was probably his own muddled, confusing feelings for his best friend's little sister.

And it seemed to be that the only way to end said sister's suffering was to reveal his own closest-guarded secret.

"There's no other way?" Harry squeaked, hoping desperately that he wasn't blushing.

"You don't have to make a big deal out of it, do you?" Hermione asked. "Just tell her how you feel."

"And once you tell her that you only think of her as a friend, then she'd be okay," Ron concluded.

Harry still wanted to die.

"You can do that for Ginny, can't you?" Ron was speaking far too calmly.

Harry took a deep, baleful breath.

"Sure. First thing in the morning."

At least his friends didn't seem to notice that he was drowning inside.

* * *

_A/N: One of my favorite things about the Harry Potter fandom is that the magical element allows me to make up pretty much any kind of charm or potion. I hope I provided enough insight into this particular concoction in this chapter!_


	3. Chapter 3

"Is it truly so bad to tell him?" Hermione frowned at the girl doubled over on the library floor beside her. "Harry always knew you had a crush."

"It's not like that - Hermione," Ginny groaned. Her ragged breaths came out in hissing sounds with her this close to the floor.

"I'm sorry this happened." Hermione looked down on her lap. "I'm not proud of Ron for doing this."

"No." Ginny grunted, alternating between poses that looked as if she had an excruciating stomachache or a draining headache.

Hermione frowned at her friend.

It had been three days - three whole days since Ginny swallowed the potion meant for her - and it had amazed everyone within their circle of friends that Ginny, despite having been informed of the Veritaserum properties of the potion, had utterly refused to accept any sort of attention from Harry. It wasn't for lack of trying on Harry's part, either.

"You could hug him, or kiss him," Hermione continued to suggest. She patted Ginny's prone figure helplessly on the back. "I don't think he would say no."

"But it wouldn't mean anything if he said yes, would it?" Ginny replied, in her longest sentence of coherent words yet.

It had taken some clever maneuvering on Hermione and Ron's part to leave Ginny alone with Hermione today.

The smartest student Gryffindor had ever boasted in years was not about to waste the precious chance.

"Or perhaps you only need to talk to him," Hermione continued to negotiate. "Ron said the packaging never did say anything about kissing."

The package _had_ said plenty of other things that Hermione knew - but, after some thinking, had declared inappropriate for Ginny to know. It was all well and good to tell Ginny that her current suffering was only due to her own true feelings being expressed. It might break the youngest Weasley's heart if she learned that the only way to lift the spell would be to have Harry tell her he only saw her as a friend.

Harry had even agreed to a kiss, if that's what it took to relieve Ginny in a kinder way.

"I don't think Harry would mind if you - "

"I don't need - his - pity," Ginny lamented, a little too loudly for the library.

"But maybe - "

"I can't take advantage of him, Hermione. I don't want to be _that _girl."

Hermione looked sadly at her friend, trying hard to avoid acting _too _obvious with her pity.

"But we can ask him if he - "

"No." Ginny groaned again in an obvious new wave of pain. "You'll find another way, right?"

Hermione sighed.

"I'll keep trying."

* * *

There were days when he wondered if his scar gives him special powers. The fact that he heard the moaning and groaning echoing up the stairs tonight more than anyone else seemed to be is one example that was clearly going to go into proving that he does.

No one else roused, but Harry, after tolerating the sounds for just ten minutes, threw off his blanket, slipped on his slippers, and padded his way down to the common room, fearful of what he was about to encounter.

Because he was right.

The noises did come from Ginny - who was currently curled up on the couch, her shoulders shifting every few seconds in clear agony. It was probably her way of making sure the other girls in her dorm could get a decent night's rest. Not a lot of students had mastered 'Silencio,' and the effects were limited, even then.

Harry couldn't even help it when his eyes misted up.

Why wouldn't she let him help her?

Her grunting continued, though it tapered off occasionally, probably whenever she drifted into a deeper sleep.

"Ginny," Harry whispered.

Slowly, he picked his way towards the couch - and he carefully circumnavigated it until he was looking down at the intense frown on Ginny's sleeping face. She convulsed from time to time, probably from some form of horrid nightmare.

He'd noticed her suffering - of course he had.

The dark circles under her eyes had grown increasingly darker in the past three days. The way she walked has lost its spring.

Quidditch aside, best friend's sister aside - Ginny _meant _something to him, personally. And his feelings had never been clearer to himself until now.

"No, no! I won't!" Ginny moaned in her sleep, her body struggling as if fighting some kind of invisible bond.

Harry rested a hand on her knee, and she calmed just a little.

Who knew the first time he'd meet up unchaperoned with a girl he liked in the middle of the night, way past curfew, would be like this?

He winced every time Ginny trembled.

"Oh, Ginny," Harry started talking, because it was just too much trouble to not do _anything _while she was suffering like this. "Please be okay. I care about you, a lot, and I _need_ you to be okay. I just - I can't take it seeing you like this. It's like I'm hurting too."

She kept shifting, and he slowly reached for her shoulders.

"No," she mumbled, but her hands grasped for his arms. "I can't - I know he doesn't - no - "

Harry, his heart in knots, carefully shifted them until he sat on the slender piece of space between her body and the edge of the couch. When she convulsed again, he lifted her into his arms.

"Harry," she muttered, eyes closed. She was probably still dreaming.

He wanted to put his lips on her brow, wanted to kiss away the creases on her face.

Instead, he held her against his chest for a few long, aching minutes. He hugged her more tightly every time a new wave of writhing started, and he waited for each one to ebb.

"Harry?"

This time, she sounded awake.

Heart racing, he gingerly pulled back until he could look into her eyes.

"Hey," he whispered.

She was panting, and he was panting.

And her nightmares felt like a far away thing.

And before he could deliberate any longer, he kissed her on the lips.

"Ha - " She didn't get to finish her words, or whatever she may have wanted to do, because he'd decided that _this _is what they really ought to be doing instead.

And they stayed that way, with his arms around her waist and her hands on his shoulders - one gentle, lingering kiss changing the world between them in the light of the common room fireplace.

He pulled away a minute - or ten minutes - later.

Her eyes sparkled in the firelight. The reflection of the flames danced in her hair. And he was acutely aware of the way his heart was leaping out of his chest.

"Ginny," he whispered.

And he realized that he was finally ready to tell her - that he liked her, that he loved her, that he was sorry that it had taken something this tormenting for her to make his mind finally realize what his heart had known a long time ago.

"Thank you," she said, before he could say any more.

"Ginny, I - "

And she was suddenly out of his arms and on her feet - not trembling, not shaking, not convulsing in the slightest.

"Thank you for doing that," she said again, her face hovering somewhere between a smile and a frown. "I - appreciate the help."

And then she walked away and up the stairs to her room.

And Harry stared, in disbelief, first at the fireplace and then at the empty staircase where the girl he liked had disappeared.

He'd kissed her, and the spell had lifted.

And after all this time, just when he had _finally _made a move for the girl he'd never truly seen as a little sister, she thought he had just done her a friendly favor.

His life, as always, was a pathetic mess.

* * *

_A/N: We got the spell to lift at last! And now it's Harry's turn to pine! ;)_


	4. Chapter 4

"Harry, are you alright?" Ginny ran down the Quidditch pitch faster than everyone else on her side, even if Ron _was_ still first to reach their fallen Seeker.

"I'm fine." Harry grunted as he rolled to a seat. Getting hit by a Bludger, a _practice _Bludger no less, wasn't something that happened everyday to the most talented Gryffindor flyer in a century. But Ron wisely, for once, decided to wait before saying what's on his mind.

Harry hadn't exactly been himself for the last two days - not since Ginny's potion effects wore off, in fact.

"You'll be able to play next week, won't you?" Katie Bell demanded.

It was a little mean to be _that _focused on the game, but who was Ron to talk?

"You alright, mate?" He helped Harry to his feet.

Harry nodded his head, messing up his hair even further. "Yeah. I'll be fine. I shouldn't be sitting out for more than a day or two."

Ginny stepped closer, clearly concerned. "Maybe Madam Pomfrey - "

"I'm fine, Ginny!" Harry snapped. The whole team took a step backwards.

Ron, sensing trouble, quickly offered to take Harry back to their room. He instructed everyone else to keep practicing, and the team eventually resumed their previous drills.

Satisfied, Ron focused on supporting a growling Harry indoors.

"Thanks, mate," Harry grumbled, when he finally climbed through the portrait hole and fell onto a chair.

Ron nodded. He'd waited, very patiently - particularly for a Weasley.

He was not about to let Harry get off easy.

Ron crossed his arms. "Why are you treating my sister this way?"

"What?"

"You, Harry. You have been nothing but mean to her since the potion fiasco!" Ron stomped over until he stood in front of his friend. "Was it really so bad that she was pining for you for those few days? God knows she suffered for it."

"Thanks to you."

"I know. Thanks to me." Ron swallowed. "But that isn't the point here, is it?"

Harry glared upwards. And Ron was glad he had his growth spurt first. The added height did contribute something to their dynamics.

"The potion's gone now. She's back to normal and nothing if not friendly to you. _Why _do you treat her like dirt?"

Harry had the good grace to look guilty.

"Do I need to fetch Hermione?"

"No," Harry blurted. Ron felt _some _pride that his whip smart girlfriend came in so handy. Most people feared his brawn, but more people feared her brain.

"The potion's worn off. What is your problem?"

Now, Harry looked positively miserable. "It didn't wear off."

"What do you even mean? Ginny's _clearly _no longer convulsing on the ground."

"I lifted the spell! I - _I _undid the effects of the potion."

Ron thought for a moment.

He frowned. "Then there shouldn't be a problem, should there? You've told her the truth - the effects lifted - and I would think _she_, and not _you_, would be all up in arms about it."

Harry looked almost as if he wanted to cry.

It was ridiculous.

"I didn't tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"What you thought I would tell her."

Ron frowned again. Thinking was an annoying task, sometimes. "But you _did _tell her how you felt, didn't you? That's the only way the spell could have been lifted."

"I kissed her, Ron!" Harry shoved himself to his feet. "I kissed her, because I fancy her, and _that's _what lifted the spell!"

Ron blinked blankly for a second.

"You fancy my sister?"

"Yes, I do - apparently, more than I knew myself."

"And you kissed her, to lift the spell."

"I - " Harry chuckled, but he didn't sound happy at all. "You see my problem, Ron?"

Ron paused. "No, I don't, Harry. I don't even understand _why _you have a problem at all."

"You don't understand. You don't think I have a problem?" Harry groaned, clearly angry, and began pacing around in hurried, heavy footsteps. "I _have_ a problem, Ron, a _very big _problem - and it's all because of your sister."

"Why would - "

"Because I'm in love with your sister, alright?" Harry spun around to face him. "I - I kissed her the other night to lift her spell, which it did. But now she thinks that the only reason I kissed her was to save her when I also kissed her because I really, _really_ wanted to."

Ron continued to stare.

His sister Ginny - liked Harry Potter.

And Harry Potter - liked his sister.

He never was a top student, but he would think the solution was rather simple, really.

"Then tell her," Ron said.

"Tell her?"

"That you fancy her - that you - that you _liked _kissing her." Ron made a face. The thought of _anyone _kissing his sister was unpalatable, even if he did think Harry and Ginny made a good match. But he went on, "You don't need to be rude."

"But she doesn't like me. All that pining was just an effect of the potion."

Now, Ron laughed. "I guess we never did tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"What the potion was all about."

"I don't understand - "

"The potion is made from a form of Veritaserum," Ron explained. "It doesn't make anyone fall in love."

"I don't under - "

"Ginny fancies you too," Ron figured it might be best to just be blunt. "The potion brings out someone's true feelings, and it clearly brought out her feelings for you in a, I don't know, _romantic _way."

"But she _refused _to let me help her - practically ran away from me for days!" Harry shouted at no one. The boy was losing his mind, over Ron's sister. It was utterly ridiculous. "She can't truly like me, Ron."

"I think she does."

"I know she doesn't," Harry moaned.

There was always a limit to what Ron could do without Hermione. Tonight, he had reached it, again.

"Whatever you say, Harry." Ron shrugged. "I doubt I can convince you."

And he left a bewildered Harry to discuss a few things with the girl in the library.

* * *

As someone who never spent time exclusively with friends from her own House, Ginny always had her pick of seats at breakfast.

And where she sat today, with her male friends around her and Luna behind her, it was rather easy to keep an eye on Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were clearly engrossed in some sort of conversation just a bit further down the table.

"No, Ron, I don't think so."

Harry's words echoed down the line more than once.

The way the three of them took turns sneaking peeks at Ginny wasn't particularly subtle either.

"What's wrong?" Luna whispered behind her.

"My brother and his friends," Ginny spat.

She thought she'd handled it well.

Even after the kiss that changed her life forever, she didn't stop being Harry's friend. In an ill-fated sort of way, he had saved her life, again - and she thought he would at least be willing to be civil to each other after his act of kindness.

But maybe Harry thought it was too embarrassing to be seen with her now, after her _very_ public agony over him. Or maybe the thought that she still liked him in a romantic sort of way, after all this time, was too much for the most famous Hogwarts student in a generation to handle.

Because she really couldn't think of any other reason for Harry's personality transformation overnight.

It was a pity.

She did like being his friend.

"Come on, mate, just admit it!" Ron was whispering loudly in some sort of desperate persuasion.

God knew what her brother was up to now.

Between bites, Ginny stole a glance Harry's way - only to see Hermione cunningly, deceptively, in a move worthy of the most crafty Slytherin, reach a hand across the table and pour a drop of potion into Harry's drink while he and Ron continued to argue.

And Harry, red in the face, drank from his cup.

"Harry, no!" Ginny shouted, springing across the table, eager to save her friend from any sort of spell his _other _friends seemed to be planning for him.

Harry looked away from Ron for the first time all morning - to glance at Ginny.

It didn't take long for the convulsions to hit.

"Ach!" Harry doubled over, and Ginny watched in horror as the very familiar bouts of pain seemed to shoot through her favorite fellow student.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Ron shouted loudly, in a display of utterly pathetic acting.

Ginny glared at the other girl beside Harry. "Hermione, what were you thinking? What did you - "

"I knew you would bite." Hermione grinned.

_Hermione Granger_ just used a potentially illegal substance on her friend - and she was grinning like a cat over her success.

Sometimes, Ginny wondered if Ron and Hermione were the best or worst for each other. Unless, of course, it was the same thing.

"Ginny!" Harry's head jerked upwards. His eyes fixed themselves on Ginny with a longing, hungry look. "Ginny, my love!"

And, to the eternal amusement of every student present, Harry Potter began to climb over the table to get to her.

"Ginny, darling, please - come!"

Ginny backed away from the table, straggling backwards as if running away from a flaming lava river.

"Ginny!" Harry screamed, his left hand outstretched while his right hand gripped his chest in what Ginny knew to be excruciating pain.

Ginny's eyes watered.

The entire situation was ridiculous - and it was all thanks to two people whom she thought would know better.

"Ron, Hermione!" Ginny cried, glaring with all the force in her body at her git of a brother and his accomplice of a girlfriend. "Is this your idea of a joke?"

"I swear, Ginny, we only mean good."

Feeling every bit of their betrayal, and a harsh mixture of feelings towards the image of Harry Potter lying prostrate on the table, practically announcing his need to snog her, Ginny Weasley ran.

* * *

_A/N: For some reason, I had a hard time making the first half of the chapter pop, but I hope the second half made up for it! One more chapter to go for our silly lovebirds to resolve things and get together :)_


	5. Chapter 5

"Ginny - Ginny, listen!" Hermione stomped her foot. Ginny sighed, fists clenched, before turning around.

"You guys go ahead," Ginny ordered, and her other friends obediently dispersed. Who said the youngest child couldn't be a leader in her own right?

"Thank you." Hermione walked up the hallways, every bit determined, until she stood toe to toe with Ginny.

"Yes?" Ginny crossed her arms.

"You don't know how - "

"Is this about Harry?"

Hermione paused. She looked unabashedly unimpressed. "Look, you _have _to listen."

"About why I should bail you and Ron out for _intentionally _hurting yet another friend?" Ginny wished her voice didn't betray how agitated she felt. "I get if it's just Ron. Weasley logic isn't the best, but _you_, Hermione?"

"You don't know - "

"Why you did it? No, I don't know. And I don't know if I want to wait for you to explain."

Hermione, for the first time, appeared slightly guilty, at least.

"Gin, he's in _agony_."

"You think I don't know?" Now, Ginny's voice cracked for real. "I'm the _only _one who knows! I know the aching, and the clenching, and the _miserable _pain that takes over your entire mind and body. And I can't believe you've _chosen _to inflict it on Harry!"

"But you can save him! I've been trying to tell you, Gin, you don't know how the potion truly works."

"All that nonsense about it bringing out true feelings? I can't imagine I believed you the first time!" Ginny scoffed.

"No, not that - and it's true, all true, by the way." Hermione grabbed Ginny by the shoulders. "What we didn't tell you was the resolution - and why the curse lifted when Harry kissed you."

It was rather disconcerting that anyone else other than she and Harry knew about the kiss, but Ginny let it slide.

"It was a love potion." Ginny shrugged, at least as much as she could with Hermione's death grip on her upper arms. "I suppose a kiss resolves it."

"The spell is broken once the object of the victim's affections responds with his or her true feelings," Hermione recited in one breath.

"What?"

"The potion brings out someone's true feelings - and it's resolved once the person you're pining for expresses what he really feels."

"So Harry - "

"Kissed you because he wanted to, and _that's _what lifted the spell."

The facts slowly completed the puzzle in Ginny's mind.

"And you're saying - "

"That since you, apparently, still have feelings for Harry - you just have to kiss him, and that will lift _his _spell."

The thought of kissing Harry again stirred up a broad mix of emotions that Ginny wished wouldn't appear all over her face.

God knew her blush didn't suit her hair.

"I - I don't know, Hermione."

"It isn't that complicated, Gin."

"But I - " It wasn't so much a question of _if _she wanted to kiss Harry again, or if she wanted to believe that his current pining for her was indeed a revelation of his true feelings - the problems ran deeper.

The biggest problem of them all being, of course, the fact that she didn't know if she could survive _after _kissing Harry again.

"You have _got _to be wrong about the potion," Ginny argued, her eyes fixed on an unknown spot on the wall. "There is no possible way that Harry feels - "

"You think Ron and I could make this up? It's hardly a good mess."

Ginny slowly met her friend's eye.

"He's been inconceivably mean - "

"Like the git that he is."

"Am I supposed to just forgive him for the way he - "

"You forgave Ron." The way Hermione's eyes watered told Ginny that forgiving Ron was a choice more than one person had to make. "And, besides, Harry's paying for it now, isn't he?"

Despite the endless corridors, doorways, and chambers, Ginny could almost feel Harry right beside her, curled into a helpless ball from the excruciating pain Ron's ridiculous potion liked to inflict.

"Ginny."

"I - I'll think about it." And Ginny pulled herself away from Hermione's grasp.

* * *

"Did you hear?"

"_Such _a lover."

"He _must _be pretending somehow?"

A dozen other whispers surrounded her. Gossip travelled fast around Hogwarts, but surely nothing could have happened _that _fast since a relatively uneventful breakfast.

Of course, there was the dilemma of Harry's screams echoing all the way from Gryffindor Tower.

But Ginny wasn't about to let that little fact annoy her - at all.

"I heard that Madam Pomfrey said he's dying from a broken heart."

"I wish _I _thought of putting the potion on him sooner. What I'd give to have Harry Potter pining for me!"

Ginny stopped in her tracks. There was no doubt now.

For some unknown reason - Hermione claimed it was due to the severity of his affections, though Ginny didn't believe _that_ explanation - Harry was suffering from the potion a lot more harshly than she herself ever did, and Ginny's resolve wavered by the minute.

It wavered by the second, actually.

And by the end of her next class, there was absolutely nothing left.

The walk to the Hospital Wing, with every step bringing to her a louder variation of Harry's groans, had never felt longer.

"Ginny," he gasped, when she stepped into view.

"Ah, Miss Weasley," Madam Pomfrey greeted her with a warm but guarded smile. "You have finally chosen to come."

Ginny tried her best to keep her sigh under her breath.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

"Ginny," Harry gasped again.

He looked - terrible.

His eyes bulged under large, dark circles - the light in the usual green shades timid and weak. His hair was even messier than usual, probably a result of endless writhing and wincing. Ginny knew, more than anyone.

"Ginny," he gasped, his arms reaching out for her.

And how could she still choose to be selfish when he needed her like this? Was it even right for her to withhold the only thing she knew would be able to stop his suffering?

"Ginny - "

"Harry," she said. And, before she could give herself any more opportunity to hesitate, she took one large step towards him and pressed her lips onto his.

He kissed her back, in his own limited, prone way.

She'd expected that much.

What she hadn't expected was the sight in front of her when she pulled back: the image of a smiling Harry _beaming _from what was, at most, a very lousy snog.

"Ginny." He smiled, clearly freed from all of the potion's unearthly afflictions.

"Hey." She greeted softly.

"I'll be right back," Madam Pomfrey stepped away.

Ginny thought she almost heard the nurse smile.

"Ginny, I'm sorry." Harry panted.

Ginny quietly adjusted them until he sat up. Then she sat on the bed in front of him.

"I should never have treated you like that - never." He looked desperate to have her believe him. "I - I was stupid, alright? And I - I really thought you only ever thought of me as a friend, and I couldn't bear to think that - "

"You knew how the potion worked, right?"

Harry paused. "I knew eventually."

"And _still, _you doubted how I felt? Was practically foaming at the mouth not enough of a sign for you?"

"It was - supposed to be," Harry admitted. He looked almost sheepish, in an infirmary gown and all. It wasn't the most becoming thing, but he still looked handsome, in his own way. "It _had _to be. I - I just had to be a git, didn't I?"

"I felt bad for you - sometimes." Ginny bit her lip. "But, really, I know how it feels."

"The potion, you mean?"

"Of course. What else could it be?"

"Well, I thought, maybe, it - that there was a chance that you were talking about - fancying someone right in front of you."

"Fishing for compliments, Harry?"

"A little? Is that alright?"

Eventually, the smile that tugged on the edge of her lips took over. "One would hardly think you needed lessons in confidence, Harry."

"Maybe not with Voldemort - but definitely with you."

Ginny listened quietly, but she let him take her hands.

"I like you, Ginny. You know that now, don't you?"

"You haven't been very subtle about it, have you?"

"Not in the last two days, no."

"Should I give you some more of that stupid potion?"

"Never, please," he begged. She smiled. "But if you think it's alright, I would very much like to show you how I feel."

"And?"

"And, well - perhaps, if you wanted to - you could - you could show me how you feel too?"

She supposed there was a time to fold.

"And how should we show it?" She inched herself forward, leaving only a foot between them.

"I don't know." Under the very obvious nerves, Harry was smiling. "I figured it might be nice to kiss you - without one of us thrashing about beforehand."

She smiled when he leaned in. "I suppose that might be nice."

And it _was _nice. It was nice the first time they kissed, without any help from someone needing to save someone else. It was nice when he pulled back, told her he had wanted to do this for _so long_, before he kissed her yet again.

It was nice the entire half hour they spent exploring and touching and feeling and smiling.

In fact, not even the way Madam Pomfrey ejected them from the Hospital Wing an hour later, with a disapproving glare followed by a wink, managed to make things any worse. And not even finding Ron and Hermione in the common room, grotesquely into each other, was able to sully the day.

One day, she'd get back at Ron.

But she supposed she could put those plans on hold.

She had better things to do today.

Judging from the way Harry kissed her, again and again, with his arms around her waist, in full view of absolutely everyone in Gryffindor Tower, her new boyfriend probably agreed.

* * *

_A/N: I wanted to post this on Christmas week, but I think my connection abroad wasn't working, causing it not to load. I'm sorry for the delay! This was my first multi-chapter Harry Potter fic, and I hope it ended up being a good read :) Thanks for giving it a try!_


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